Contagious jonah berger

[...]... are more contagious than others But is it possible to make anything contagious, or are some things just naturally more infectious? Smartphones tend to be more exciting than tax returns, talking dogs are more interesting than tort reform, and Hollywood movies are cooler than toasters or blenders Are makers of the former just better off than the latter? Are some products and ideas just born contagious. .. what makes things catch on This is that book SIX PRINCIPLES OF CONTAGIOUSNESS This book explains what makes content contagious By “content,” I mean stories, news, and information Products and ideas, messages and videos Everything from fund-raising at the local public radio station to the safe-sex messages we’re trying to teach our kids By contagious, ” I mean likely to spread To diffuse from person to... ideas, products, and stories you could have discussed Why did you talk about those things in particular? Why that specific story, movie, or coworker rather than a different one? Certain stories are more contagious, and certain rumors are more infectious Some online content goes viral while other content never gets passed on Some products get a good deal of word of mouth, while others go unmentioned Why?... for less than a few hundred dollars apiece And for a product that seemed anything but word-of-mouth worthy A regular, boring old blender ————— The Blendtec story demonstrates one of the key takeaways of contagious content Virality isn’t born, it’s made And that is good news indeed Some people are lucky Their ideas or initiatives happen to be things that seem to naturally generate lots of excitement and... regular everyday products and ideas can generate lots of word-of-mouth if someone figures out the right way to do it Regardless of how plain or boring a product or idea may seem, there are ways to make it contagious So how can we design products, ideas, and behaviors so that people will talk about them? STUDYING SOCIAL INFLUENCE My path to studying social epidemics was anything but direct My parents didn’t... reviews, and face-to-face conversations All with the goal of understanding social influence and what drives certain things to become popular A few years ago, I started teaching a course at Wharton called Contagious. ” The premise was simple Whether you’re in marketing, politics, engineering, or public health, you need to understand how to make your products and ideas catch on Brand managers want their products... they tell a joke the room bursts out laughing But jokes also vary Some jokes are so funny that it doesn’t matter who tells them Everyone laughs even if the person sharing the joke isn’t all that funny Contagious content is like that—so inherently viral that it spreads regardless of who is doing the talking Regardless of whether the messengers are really persuasive or not and regardless of whether they... social influence To be talked about, shared, or imitated by consumers, coworkers, and constituents In our research, my collaborators and I noticed some common themes, or attributes, across a range of contagious content A recipe, if you will, for making products, ideas, and behaviors more likely to become popular Take Will It Blend? and the hundred-dollar cheesesteak at Barclay Prime Both stories evoke... sugar to make something sweet, we kept finding the same ingredients in ads that went viral, news articles that were shared, or products that received lots of word of mouth After analyzing hundreds of contagious messages, products, and ideas, we noticed that the same six “ingredients,” or principles, were often at work Six key STEPPS, as I call them, that cause things to be talked about, shared, and... ideas to prevalent cues in that environment Top of mind leads to tip of tongue Principle 3: Emotion When we care, we share So how can we craft messages and ideas that make people feel something? Naturally contagious content usually evokes some sort of emotion Blending an iPhone is surprising A potential tax hike is infuriating Emotional things often get shared So rather than harping on function, we need . an advertising budget . . . Why anti-drug commercials might increase drug use . . . Built to show, built to grow. 5. Practical Value How an eighty-six-year-old made a viral video about corn STEPPS. Acknowledgments Readers Group Guide Questions for Discussion Expand Your Book Club A Conversation with Jonah Berger About Jonah Berger Notes Index To my mother, father, and grandmother. For always believing in me. Introduction:. from person to person, almost like a virus. Or in the case of the hundred-dollar cheesesteak, an over-the-top, wallet-busting virus. But while it’s easy to find examples of social contagion,